


Carpe diem and all that

by Lilacsheen



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Humor, I'm sorry i wrote this when i was sleep deprived, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Not Beta Read, but if i dont write it down I'll forget, i guess, idiot boys in love, it might not make sense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27152300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilacsheen/pseuds/Lilacsheen
Summary: This is Carlos' turn to be the reckless one. For a cat.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Kudos: 88





	Carpe diem and all that

TK and Carlos have been dating for almost a whole year. A _whole_ year full of laughs, tears, and all the beautiful moments in between. And _also_ a whole year where Carlos had kept the three words unsaid for so long—those three _very_ special words that he already felt the first few months of being with TK. The reason he hadn't said it is actually _quite_ silly; he just couldn't find the right time. The universe is out against him saying those three words, it seems.

—

"...Carlos?" A voice interrupts Carlos from his existential pondering, dragging him back to present day.

"Sorry, Michelle. I was just, um. Lost in thought, I guess. What were you saying?" Carlos focuses his attention back to his close friend, the Texas sun shining through the parasol of their table as their usual lunch together at the food truck is coming to an end.

"As I _said_ before... _when_ are you going to tell TK those three words?" Michelle suggestively raises her eyebrows at him as she downs another bite of her food, catching Carlos by surprise.

"What? That's _not_ what we were talking about..." Carlos' face feels a _little_ flushed, but at the same time... _relieved?_ Relieved that he has his close friend with him to talk about this, since he usually went to TK to talk about things, but this is _definitely_ not something he can talk about with TK... because TK _is_ what he wants to talk about.

Carlos sighs.

"...Yeah. Okay. You're right. I _have_ been feeling that way about TK for as long as we've been dating, but I just... _every time_ I want to say it to him, my plans get derailed—and one time, a train derailment _literally_ happened the night I wanted to ask him out to a fancy dinner. You were there, remember?" He sighs, rolling his shoulders back in a huff.

"Have you tried coming down to the station and just... say it _there_ instead?" Michelle asks, her husky, even-toned voice almost a too-good mask for her mischievous nature. "Since, _you know_ , our jobs require us to _kind of_ always be on the move?"

"I don't know... I want it to be special,"

"...Okay, Carlos, I get it. But you know, sometimes you gotta take life by the horns and just... don't _wait_ for all the planets to align before saying those words," Michelle smirks, gathering her trash from the table as they're preparing to return to their shifts.

Carlos knows she's right. She's goddamn right, it's just that there's something tugging at the back of his head, telling him to wait. Just wait a little longer. But what for?

Eventually, they have to return to their shifts. ' _Soon_ ,' he thinks to himself. Soon.

—

"TK, you alright?" Judd claps his little brother figure on the back, the weight of their 48 hour shift starting to show its effect on everyone, and so far? It's only hour 22.

"Just fine... if you count relying on nine cups of coffee as the only thing keeping you awake right now as fine," TK exclaims, his drowsiness only one second away from completely overtaking him.

Judd laughs, unimpressed. "Hang in there, kid. The thing that makes you sleepy as hell right now is the _lack_ of calls. Once we got 'em, I promise those heavy eyelids of yours will spring _all_ the way back to your 15th birthday in an instant,"

"Great. Let's hope someone gets into danger so I can get rid of the sleepiness."

" _That's_ the spirit." Judd lets out an affirmative huff and leaves TK in the kitchen area to his _tenth_ cup of coffee.

"Oof," TK downs the coffee with gusto, wishing something would wake him up from the drowsiness.

—

"TK, wake up!" Marjan's voice rings clear, the urgency of her tone waking TK from his nap on one of the couches near the kitchen.

"... _huh?_ We have a call?" TK rubs his eyes, trying to wipe out the remnant of his drowsiness, the same drowsiness that prevents him from properly processing the red glare of the call illuminating all over the fire station.

"Yeah, a hit and run near the woods. The car's _completely_ totaled, PD's already on their way. Let's go," she picked up the rest of her gear by the table, and TK does the same.

—

They managed to get to the scene roughly the same time the PD did, just a little bit after the evening light makes way for the night. TK's doing his part while everyone works the scene, but his eyes are searching amongst the many faces for one.

_Carlos_.

He's not there with them.

"Dad? Is Carlos here?" TK approaches his captain, worry etched on his face.

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since we got here, son. I'll ask around." Owen sympathetically pats his son's back, hoping nothing bad happened to his (future) son-in-law.

"Thanks, dad." TK kept it short and simple and got out of everyone's way as soon as he's done with his job, but his mind is clouded with thoughts about Carlos. About what could _happen_ to Carlos. About what could happen to Carlos _before_ he could say the three words. And that thought is the scariest of it all; the unsaid. The _what if_.

TK stood around the outskirt of the woods, hanging back just in case anyone needs him, but the victim's already loaded into the ambulance, in pain but alive. And the rest of the scene is nearly wrapped up and they're about to head back soon. As TK is about to breathe a sigh of relief for the (fortunately) lack of deaths today, he spots movement at the corner of his eye, a blur. ' _Could be a wild animal,_ ' he thinks to himself. But somewhere deep in his gut, he knows he has to inspect it.

"Hey guys, I'm going this way, see if there's anyone around. They could be hurt, too," TK yells to his coworkers, his head turned to the direction of the woods.

"Okay, the victim said they didn't bring anyone else when the accident happened, but maybe there's someone there who might need help. Be careful! It's getting dark," Paul yelled back at TK, busy stuffing gear into the ladder truck.

TK walks into the outer part of the woods, turning his lights on. He lights a path in front of him and his stomach drops. Blood droplets. That can't be a good sign. With the night approaching, he really should just turn back. Call for backup. But he soldiers on, with hopes that nobody is hurt and those traces of blood were simply from the wildlife, and he can _then_ turn back after knowing so.

"Hello? Anyone here? We're the Austin FD, we're here to help," TK muttered, not too loud but enough to alert anyone near him. He's been walking for a couple minutes, and he was alerted that Marjan's walking not too far behind him to be his backup.

No replies.

But he keeps walking.

The traces of blood gets thicker.

"Hello? Anyone he—" TK is cut off by a flicker of a light coming from his right side, and he heads to that direction. As he gets closer, he heard grunts. Not from an animal, but a person. A person struggling, holding on to something, he thinks. TK fears what he might see is what he thinks it is.

He clears the path shrouded by the thicket of trees to get to the source of the light and sounds, and it fucking is. It _is_ what he thinks it is.

It's Carlos—holding a calico cat with one arm, while his other arm is holding on to a very flimsy-looking branch covered in _moss_ , and he looks damn near tired—almost _too_ tired to keep holding on a second longer. The problem is, if he let go, they'll both fall off, off into the _deep_ trench that's _conveniently_ placed right below him. And that would hurt. A lot.

"TK?" Carlos notices his boyfriend's presence, and he nearly looses his footing. Or the lack thereof.

"Carlos! H-hey, babe, don't worry, I—we'll pull you up! Just a second, you'll, you'll be okay!" TK reassures him, even though his face says ' _oh god oh god oh fuck! How did this happen!_ ' All the way.

TK tries his best to approach Carlos without endangering himself, but it's really slippery. The ground he walks on becomes even more slippery, and now he knows how Carlos probably got himself into this situation. "Just, hang in there, babe—almost there!"

Carlos can only halfheartedly nod, focusing the remainder of his strength to hold on—both to the cat _and_ the branch. He's covered in sweat, some parts of his arms are starting to bruise and he's probably already holding onto the cat for nearly an hour.

Marjan finally caught up to TK, and she calmly helps TK find something to pull Carlos out of his situation. "How long has he been there?"

TK shakes his head. "I have no idea. We gotta pull him soon, it's getting darker and he looks really tired,"

"Then let's get him out of there."

—

A few moments later (and a couple more contraptions later that successfully pulled Carlos and the cat safely away from the deep trench), Carlos and the cat is put on a gurney on their way into the ambulance.

"You wanna tell me how the hell _that_ happened?" TK asks his boyfriend, exasperation clear on his face as he walks alongside the gurney, gesturing to the woods they just got out of.

"Later, in the ambulance," Carlos answered, the calico lying on his chest, its hind legs bloody.

—

"So? Talk, Carlos," TK finally breaks the silence that hangs in the air of the empty ambulance(save for them both), well on their way back to the hospital in the city.

Carlos sighs. " _This cat,_ " he mutters. "This cat is a stray that happens to be in the middle of the hit and run. When the cars crashed, she ran out of the fray and into the woods, then her legs got caught on a bear trap. I tried to untangle it from her, but it kind of spooked her, so she ran and when I caught her—"

"... you didn't realize that deep ass trench was under your feet." TK sighs. Carlos nods, the calico lying on his chest gives him a purr after all the troubles she made.

"Pretty much. I couldn't call for backup, my hands were full," Carlos gave his boyfriend a halfhearted smile and a joke, but the only palpable thing on TK's face is worry.

"Why,"

"What?"

"Why did you do that, Carlos?" TK links his fingers with his boyfriend's, the bumpy ride jostling them.

"I..."

"And before you say anything silly like ' _the cat is cute_ ', I'm really worried sick about you, Carlos... god..."

Carlos can only sigh. "I don't know. _Honestly?_ I wasn't really thinking about it then. I just went after this cat, and there I was. It was a good thing you found me when you did, TK."

TK groans into his hand out of frustration, his other hand still linked with Carlos'. "Of course _that's_ your reason. _Of course_ you would save a cat and nearly risking your own. Because _that's_ the kind of guy you are. And that's... I guess _that's_ why I love you,"

Time stood still.

Or did it? Maybe it's just Carlos, staring shell-shocked at his boyfriend's monologue. Correction, monologue that includes the _three words_.

"... _huh?_ " And that's all he can say.

"Oh, f—" TK, realizing what he just said, lets go of Carlos' hand and covers his face with his hands, running his hands through his hair in what we could only call a moment of embarrassment that he hadn't anticipated. "Sorry, Carlos, I mean—I didn't mean to—"

"I love you, too,"

" _Whuh?_ " TK stops in his tracks. He stares at Carlos, dumbfounded.

"I said I love you too, tiger. I knew that's what I've been feeling since March," Carlos sheepishly smiles, none of them expecting the evening to take such a wild turn.

TK's previously disarrayed expression melts into a soft smile. " _March_ , huh? That's—that's funny, because that was also the time I knew I felt so strongly about you," TK links his hand back with Carlos', soft smiles adorning both their faces.

Carlos raises his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"For real. I've been wanting to tell you, I just..."

"... haven't found the right time?"

TK nods, at a loss with how easy it is for Carlos to follow his thought process. Or maybe because he felt the _exact same_ desperation. He laughs at the thought.

"What's so funny?" TK smiles, but confusion fills his expressions after.

"You remember the train derailment?"

"Yeah, that was _crazy_ , I've never seen that in my life before," TK shakes his head in disbelief, recalling the memory in _almost_ a fond light.

"That was actually _the_ night I planned a whole fancy dinner for us when I wanted to say I love you, but then _that_ happened," Carlos looks at his boyfriend fondly, though not so fondly at the derailment.

TK snorts, an amused chuckle escaping his lips. "It's almost funny how you need to dangle precariously _above_ a trench while holding this cat for _this_ to happen," and the cat in question decides to take a nap on Carlos' chest. "I love you, Carlos. I don't know why I waited _so_ fucking long to say it. I guess today is kind of a reminder that tomorrow isn't promised, so carpe diem and all that,"

Carlos takes TK's hand that was already linked with his and brings it closer to his chest (the part without the cat lying on it) and gives TK a resolute nod. "I love you, TK. I promise I'll be more careful next time."

TK bends forward so his face is right above Carlos' and their noses touch. "I promise the same to you, Carlos. And you're _way_ too selfless for your own good. You need a little bit of a dick like me to even things out," he playfully pecks a kiss atop Carlos' nose. Carlos uses his free hand to grab the back of TK's neck and pull him in for a kiss—on the lips. Carlos can feel his boyfriend smiling against the kiss as it deepens, and when they slowly pull away, the cat wakes up to swat at TK's chin in distaste.

" _Someone's_ jealous," Carlos chuckles, brushing the calico's back resulting in her purring like a loud rumble of a motorcycle against Carlos' touch.

"I think she's cute," TK gives their furry guest a proper scratch under her chin, which she appreciates. "I think Buttercup would like her,"

"You really want to keep her?" Carlos looks up at his boyfriend, a little bit hopeful now that he's grown kind of attached to this cat.

"She's a _lucky_ cat, Carlos! _Calicos_ are lucky! And plus, if it weren't for her—we wouldn't have said our 'I Love Yous', would we?"

Carlos sighs in mock defeat. "If you say so, tiger."

TK huffs in exasperation. " _You're_ the one who wanted to keep her anyway! ... and the fact that she's kind of cute can't hurt, either."

—

Soon after, they did keep her. Named her Lucky, because that's what she is. And also because she's the (partial) reason they _finally_ get to say their three special words.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks very much for reading :-)


End file.
